Happy Thanksgiving ~ Week 13

     Teachers act as designers from the very beginning of their careers. Developing curriculum and lesson plans each week, and implementing them in the classroom each day. Creating plans which will stimulate students and reach each type of learner requires immense flexibility.

     iStopMotion enables designers as young as elementary students to create their own animated movies and time-lapse recordings. This can be used by students to complete an animation project for social studies or language arts classes.
    
     "Digital Storytelling" by Kate Kemker is a great article offering instructions on utilizing technology to create a story. The process of drawing a story board on paper, filming a video, and finally editing the piece, creates a process for every student to be involved. I would most certainly attempt to use this in an English classroom. The project influences written and artistic creativity, and encourages participation from each student with critiques and movie reviews from fellow students.

     Making math more real for students can be achieved by allowing for the use of graping calculators to build understanding between what is happening numerically, graphically, and symbolically for a mathematical relationship. Also, the visualization software called Tinkerplots for grades 4 to 8 enables students to see different patterns and clusters in statistical data. Additionally, Fathom Dynamic software for high school students which allows access to powerful tools for making sense of large data sets.
    
     I believe to learn something merely from television would simply depend on the person and the type of learner. Considering this, it is possible for someone to take instruction from someone on t.v. and be successful with a project. On the other hand, some individuals may only use television as a tool, but still require hands on experience to achieve their goal.

Jonassen, D., Howland, J., Marra, R. M., & Crismond, D. (2008). Meaningful Learning with Technology (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Ch. 3 ~ Gee's Principles of Probing

     I found the three most important principles offered by Gee to be the Probing Principle where learning is a cycle of probing the world; reflecting in and on this action and, forming a hypothesis; reprobing the world to test this hypothesis; and then accepting or rethinking the hypothesis. Next, Discovery Principle where overt telling is kept to a well-thought-out minimum, allowing ample opportunity for the learner to experiment and make discoveries. Finally, Practice Principle where learners get lots of practice in a context where the practice is not boring. They spend lots of time on task.
     I am not quite sure how to implement this technology in an English classroom. I suppose any interactive game with story telling which allows for correction of grammar, spelling, punctuation, etc. would enhance learning. Also, software which allows a student to create/write a story where the student decides the events of the main character(s) based on available choices and would therefore effect the final outcome of the story would stimulate as well.
     I believe the most beneficial teaching for an English Secondary classroom will come from reading of literature, writing, and student-teacher relationship. In my opinion, other than a grammar game, etc., I would have a hard time spending too much time on game technology.
    
 

Jonassen, D., Howland, J., Marra, R. M., & Crismond, D. (2008). Meaningful Learning
       with Technology (3rd ed., pp. 54-55). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice
       Hall.

Chapter 4 ~ PowerPoint

While society is literally submerged in technology, there is specific tools that benefit a classroom environment. Software offering concept maps could be utilized in any writing assignment, no matter what the subject. The Semantica and Inspiration packages can help a teacher or student flourish in any educational activity.
   Due to the level of creativity that PowerPoint allows,  an individual can unintentionally take away from an oral presentation. One should make note of the tips offered in the textbook to avoid this from occuring. It is easy to fall into the trap of too much stimulation on the slides. This may be my pitfall.
  In conclusion, it is best to hold back on a PowerPoint presentation to make sure it remains a tool for an oral presentation, not the presentation itself. Keeping the potential pitfalls listed in the textbook in mind hopefully I will be able to overcome this.

 Jonassen, D., Howland, J., Marra, R. M., & Crismond, D. (2008). Meaningful Learning                  Technology (3rd ed., pp. 62-72). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Chapter Two

   Personal Digital Assistants are hand held computers that allow for organizing functions, such as a calendar, task or memo tools. the Palm operating systems are the most common handheld device utilized in education. For use in the classroom the textbook offered numerous PDA ideas. Firstly, a handheld allows for students to conduct  experiments in the field and share the information with their peers from one device to another. Upon returning to the classroom, the handheld devices can then download the data to a classroom computer where it can be analyzed and graphed. Secondly, students can conduct nature mapping whereas  data collected in the field by participating farmers can be sent to students in a classroom. Upon receiving the information, the students can then engage with the farmers and update their findings for a particular assignment.
   Online survey tools allow for data collection opportunities across curriculum. Surveys allow students to answer questions based on themselves.The collected results then become the springboard for a classroom discussion conducted by the teacher. Online surveys can be both fun and educational because they can allow for participation outside the classroom with students from neighboring schools or countries. In my opinion, two good rules for online surveys are to avoid long questions and to not appear bias in your phrasing. Both of these can deter a individual from participating.
   Implementing  a PDA in the classroom is a great educational tool. These systems allow for students to step outside of the classroom and become engaged in their surroundings, or remain in class and participate in the collection of data from a field instructor. As an English teacher, I am not sure how to utilize the PDA, but I do know that online surveys would be a great interactive tool when questioning students on their opinions of various literature.

Jonassen, D., Howland, J., Marra, R. M., & Crismond, D. (2008). Meaningful Learning withTechnology (3rd ed., pp. 29-37). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.

  

Week 4 Excel

 The Spreadsheet created in class today was a manageable project. As an English teacher I am sure I would utilize the software for record keeping, averages, etc. The ease of the calculations makes it appealing. Any last minute changes for grade deadlines can be made quickly. Also, the convenience of corrections without having to re-write items in a manual gradebook.

  The three primary functions of Spreadsheets are to input numerical information which is stored in cells, to support calculator functions, and to present information in a variety of graphs, charts, as well as graphics. I believe the advantage of a spreadsheet over a calculator is that it allows you to create, but also share information with others, either through the Internet, or simply printing a handout for a classroom.
These functions do allow for exceptional organization. I have not worked in Excel often, but I am sure over time I will establish a comfort level.

Jonassen, D., Howland, J., Marra, R. M., & Crismond, D. (2008). Meaningful Learning with Technology (3rd ed., pp. 88-90). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall

Inspiration Video & Text ~ ch.4

   After viewing the Inspiration video, I found the software to offer convenience for many educators. It appear to be simple and manageable for a teacher, and the graphics/images would engage the students. It offers great organization of outline/lecture notes allowing the information to be presented clearly. The Presentation Manager creates the complete package for a lesson plan/topic.  I would certainly use Inspiration to maintain organization of material for English lectures on authors and their works, and possibly writing and grammar lessons. This would clearly take the place of overhead projectors and transparencies, if it hasn't already. 
    The activities in an English classroom that would most effectively use technology would be writing, oral presentations, and research. Students can use the concept mapping or semantic network tool to organize, plan, and analyze their topic for writing. PowerPoint software can be used as a required assignment for an oral presentation on a literary figure or work. Also, use of the Internet can aide students in research and or guidance with poetry, fiction, creative writing, etc. To support peer feedback, students can use technology and the Internet  to assist one another with brainstorming, creating original text, editing, and sharing of research obligations. The software SWoRD suggested in the textbook appears practical for submitting drafts and receiving peer evaluations. Several months ago, I presented a PowerPoint presentation for speech class on the, "History of the Hershey Chocolate Corporation". I knew only of the basic products of candy and syrup before my presentation. Access to the Internet allowed me to research the company's initial start up, growth, and philanthropist work of the founder, Milton Hershey.
    As my knowledge increases on software and tools available to aide in teaching, I am beginning to realize that perhaps the "digital learner" won't be quite so difficult to adjust to. That there is a middle ground for both technology and teaching.
 
Inspiration Version 9. (2010). Retrieved September 13, 2010, from http://www.inspiration.com/videos/Inspiration

Jonassen, D., Howland, J., Marra, R. M., & Crismond, D. (2008). Meaningful Learning with Technology (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Chapter 6

    Up until a week ago, I did not find blogs very interesting, but after reading chapter six in the text I find there is more to it than what I once thought. It appears that posting a blog may create an interactive community allowing for broader correspondence between an educator and student(s). It provides the opportunity for students to learn through outside sources from people with first hand knowledge and experience. If someone gave the opinion that blogs were a waste of time in a classroom, I would take the time to illustrate the benefits and hope to convince them otherwise.
    I found that the chapter gave numerous ideas to implementing blogs in an English teaching environment. Firstly, it would allow for additional posting of notes/lessons for students to build upon from a classroom lecture. Also, in the case of absences/illness, a student may have the capabilities to read that days lesson(s), and not fall behind on reading assignments, etc. An educator could then post helpful links to sites with relating subject matter for lesson plans. For example, sites which assist students with grammar, punctuation, and word usage for an upcoming report or essay. One might post discussion topics requiring feed back from students, and peer-to-peer comments, or require weekly journal entries with a grading rubric requiring proper grammar, punctuation, spelling, etc. A fun activity for students would be the implementation of a classroom-to-classroom relationship with students from other countries. Similar to the Global School House suggested in the textbook. Lastly, a blog may offer parents the awareness of a classroom's current curriculum and overall progress.
   When I enter the classroom as an educator, it is a great possibility that I may put a blog to use. I would allow for a trial period to weigh the success and benefits to myself and the students, and perhaps then be able to encourage other teachers to do the same.

Jonassen, D., Howland, J., Marra, R. M., & Crismond, D. (2008). Meaningful Learning with Technology
      (3rd ed., pp. 112-121). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.